Tteokguk, or rice cake slice soup, is written as “byeongtang” in Chinese characters – “byeong” meaning rice cake and “tang” meaning soup. The tradition of byeongtang on Lunar New Year’s Day dates back to China’s Tang Dynasty. While the Chinese had byeongtang cooked with flour dumplings, Koreans enjoyed tteokguk made with rice-based garaetteok slices due to poor wheat farming harvests in the past. According to an ancient document, Gaeseong people used to have joraengi tteokguk made with small rice cake pieces, while people in the capital had tteokguk cooked with flat rice cake slices.

Main Ingredients :
garaetteok (rice cake bars), 200g beef shank

Spices :
Beef seasoning spices: 1 tsp soup soy sauce, 1/2 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp sesame seeds, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1/4 tsp ground pepper
Beef stock condiments: 1 scallion, 50g white radish, 1 tsp soup soy sauce, 5 cloves garlic
Garnish: 2 eggs, 1/4 tsp salt
Others: 1/2 tsp ground pepper, 1 tsp sesame seeds, 1 tsp sesame oil




☑ Ready garaetteok bars one day prior to cooking and let them dry in the shade with good ventilation. A slightly hardened surface and soft inside best for cutting.
☑ Discard the first pot of beef-boiled water to remove impurities. Simmering the beef with fresh, clean water will render a clear beef stock.
☑ Wrap the boiled beef with a damp cloth to prevent it drying.
☑ When cooking tteokguk, control the simmering time according to the hardness of the rice cake slices - turn off the gas as soon as the freshly-made rice cake slices float, while letting it simmer for another 3 minutes for slightly hardened garaetteok slices.
☑ Adjust the flavor with soup soy sauce, salt, and ground pepper according to preference.


Kim Su-jin: Hansik Researcher

- Director of Association for Research on Taste of Korea
- Head Director of Food & Culture Korea Academy
- Nation’s First Film Food Director
(Major works: “Ssanghwajeom”, “The Painter of Wind”, “King and the Clown”, “Best Chef”)